Never Aging Out!
Proverbs 1: 20-25
MARK 8: 27-38
SEPTEMBER 15, 2024
As I walked down my street in Buffalo this past week, I couldn’t help but notice the FISCHER’s grey house. It is the home where Mimi and Jim Fischer raised their kids. Kathy, Margaret, Patsy, and Jimmy were kids I played SPUD with, ran around backyards playing hide and go seek with. Together we splished and splashed in the DELANEY above ground pool with other neighborhood kids. And, Margaret even married my high school classmate David Gastel, the harmonica player.
Whenever I have walked past that large gray house, I have remembered those wonderful days and evenings. But this week I was taken aback in shock because the FISCHER’s grey house is being painted green. A deep forest green that even in its partial stage of new covering is giving this house that is at least 80 years old a new energetic feeling to it. There is the promise of what is to come … a mere covering of the old but a restoration that embodies hope. A brightness that brings joy not taking away what has been but pointing to what might be. After decades of being grey … it now will be green.
The wisdom of the street … is a reminder that time does not limit our possibilities unless we allow time to leave us wallowing in or flipping through life albums of what has been rather than excitedly celebrating what might be. We heard from Proverbs the call that “WISDOM SHOUTS in the streets … in the public square she raises her voice.” A reference to the wisdom and blessing of living a life of faith with God.
The Scripture that Solomon wrote then reminds us that God continues to offer God’s Holy Spirit for direction … direction intended for living our lives rather than retreating. We sing, ‘Come Holy Spirit Come.’ Proverbs references what is a reflection perhaps of God’s frustration, “How long will you clueless people love your naïveté? I invited you … but you rejected me.”
How do you identify your faith walk? Are you an activist joyfully declaring your faith while engaged in doing all you can for God and for your faith each day OR do you reminisce saying I heard God’s call BUT … Have you retired from any time investment for God or do you wake up in the morning as a smile comes to your face as you consider the next new possibility that is in front of you for God, for your connection to Jesus, for your faith life rather than merely occasionally looking back at some attendance star from Sunday School classes long ago thinking that you once planned to make God’s church stronger.
I have had some conversations over these last few weeks with friends who like myself have added some years to their lives. Talking about what has been and what might be in the days to come. Gil, the anesthesiologist, who two weeks ago retired from his job in the medical profession laughed last Sunday when my brother asked if he was now going to sit back and do “nothing.” Gil replied, “I am excited about living life and discovering what I am going to do next. Doing nothing would be a waste of my life.”
Today, as we come together in worship at a critical moment in time do you wonder … like I do … how many people who attend or who have attended churches have made a conscious decision that they have “aged out” of being active church members. Have you paused to evaluate your life and decided when it comes to church you are merely going to be a voyeur who sits back and does nothing … leaving the future of the church … well to others … even though you are pretty sure that they too have also already decided that because they made the leap of faith once upon a Sunday that they too have already aged out from an active role in their churches and that they can retire to nothingness when it comes to following or hearing God’s Spirit much less serving as a church activist using their gifts and talents to make new disciples for Christ.
The lesson from Proverbs is a reflection of God’s ongoing plea to people of faith. “Look, I will pour my Spirit on you! I will reveal my words to you. I invited you but you rejected me. I stretched out my hand to you but you paid no attention.”
Maybe those who have stopped volunteering or helping or even acknowledging they go to church made that decision because they decided they had done enough … time for the others to take it on even if it meant that their church doors would close forever.
I have reached the conclusion that for some of these folks the success or failure of God’s church was and is the least of their concerns. Worldly priorities matter more. Maybe you have met or know individuals like that too.
Jesus declared, “ALL who want to come after me must say NO to themselves, take up their cross, and … “. Church do you know the next words … its an action verb not a lesson in passivity … Jesus said anyone, everyone, whoever you are … IF YOU WANT to be ASSOCIATED with Jesus get up and say no to the lounge chair and yes to following Him!
Jesus then implies that those who don’t choose to be activists for God … people who don’t pay attention to Jesus’ lessons on living life must then be ashamed of Jesus and His teaching. In Proverbs the lesson says “You ignored my advice and you did not want me to correct you.” Of course, who amongst us wants to sense God correcting our life’s paths when we are in control. Yet, James writes faith without actions is DEAD.
So, have you aged out … have you become too busy … is your soul not connected to God’s love? If that’s you then more than likely you are missing out on the joy and peace that God can deliver to each of us on an ongoing basis? Throughout Scripture, God emphasized the connection of celebration with faith. Joy and peace when we align with God. God actually nudged and urged God’s people to party with energy and to celebrate what we have. Angels celebrate when a person comes to know Christ … Rejoice always!
And, I wonder again … why don’t non-church goers associate joy with Christianity? Why isn’t the message of the church a reflection to the world that having Jesus in our lives brings us blessed assurance … peace like a river … and the desire to praise God even with clashing cymbals? Perhaps the lesson from church goers never reflects the joy when the topic of church comes up.
In her book, ‘Restore My Soul,’ Janice McWilliams writes, [1]“Most of us aren’t living sustainably because we haven’t learned to apply life-giving rhythms that help restore our souls. The fact that we can affect our rhythms isn’t known and utilized enough.” She’s talking about those green meadows and still waters.
The very concept that we as good people … that we as Christians … that we as people of faith who at least semi-regularly attend church should have to restore our very souls might not resonate with everyone in the globe’s churches today because we have very intentionally placed blinders on our lives. Perhaps I should say that as 21st Century people we each are trying to do our best to glide through our days with ease, comfort, and definitely and universally abhor the idea that we should take on more … no matter the cause … no matter the need. McWilliams refers to this by saying “[2]with the pressures and expectations of our society, we’re becoming less and less likely to do daily, weekly, and yearly rhythms well … without intentional effort.”
But unless we are intentional … everything suffers. Unless we are intentional in our faith walk through the investment of our time and attention … well you might wonder why so many churches have closed and why church attendance is so sparse … maybe you don’t wonder but are you willing to connect the dots of your life … your assessment of your faith … with the needs of God in this life we are living. Does the call of God … the needs of God to bring God’s Kingdom to earth as it is in heaven resonate in your planning or lack of planning for your today’s tomorrow’s and beyond? Are you investing your time in restoring your soul alongside of God? Still waters … green pastures?
Are you willing to step up and declare I HAVE NOT AGED OUT IN MY FAITH WALK? Do you have a verse or two that showcases your joy in your faith life that you can use to energize yourself on a day when you don’t want to invite someone to church … do you want to follow Jesus in building up and strengthening the church?
Are you ready to celebrate your faith at West Deptford’s Family Fun Day this coming Saturday afternoon or does the lounge chair have more appeal? Would you be willing to lead one of our mission teams or perhaps be our representatives to Annual Conference because we need to find someone to take on that vital role.
Yesterday as our choir shared an afternoon together the conversation drifted to entertainers. Rich and Diane are going to go see Tom Jones in concert. Yes, THAT Tom Jones … he has not stopped singing and entertaining and does not let a number called age slow him down. Someone else mentioned seeing Mick Jagger who is now 80 years old. Friends of mine are going to see 84-year-old Ringo Starr in concert in two weeks. My friend Jim Yester from the Association shocked me when he said he is now 85 years old, but he was up on stage this summer singing Cherish.
It’s not necessarily easy to change one’s life path. It can be challenging to put on a new coat of paint especially after having lived many years with one look, but we are called to be the church of Jesus Christ. He has told us to be activists with no hint of stepping back or laying down. There is joy in faith … there is restoration in connecting to God.
So, start to evaluate who you are. You might not be able to sing in front of thousands of folks who pay hundreds of dollars to hear you sing. But each of us has been gifted with certain abilities. Each of us can read God’s Word. Jesus did not say be miserable … but Jesus did offer us salvation by our being faithful. I challenge each of us to consider who we are today and how we can make this church stronger for Christ in the days to come. Knowing St. Paul’s I know we can do it with joy and laughter and love.
God is reaching out to each of us … together let’s grab hold of God’s hand and discover what we can do together in the days to come! AMEN
TIME TIME TIME SEE WHAT’s BECOME OF ME WHILE I LOOKED AROUND FOR MY POSSIBILITIES